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Watch Dogs for the PS4

Watch Dogs came out of nowhere, debuting at Ubisoft's press conference to the confusion of everyone in the crowd. What is this game? What genre is this? It's rare in this day and age to keep something under wraps like Ubisoft did with Watch Dogs; historically, most big E3 announcements are leaked before the show even begins. However, it only took a few minutes into the E3 2012 demo before new questions were asked, such as "When can I buy this?" and "When can I see more?" Now that the PlayStation 4 launch is almost upon us, we know quite a lot about what will most likely be one of the PS4's top selling games.

Plot
Watch Dogs centers around hacker Aiden Pearce, a young man who is able to hack his way into any system in the city: a city that just so happens to be run by one giant supercomputer. ATMs, cellphones, security cameras: if it's electronic, Aiden can hack it. Aiden has been called an anti-hero: someone who is only doing good because it serves his own ends, and his true motives are shrouded in mystery. While Ubisoft has kept the story tightly under wraps, we do know that it will follow the trials and tribulations of Aiden as he interacts with the many seedy individuals in Chicago.

Gameplay
Watch Dogs is an open-world, third-person action game set in an alternate reality Chicago in a future a bit different from ours, if you weren't able to tell by the above paragraph.

Expect to find everything you normally would in a game in this genre, including shooting, driving, side quests, a large open world map and, of course, the hacking, which will change the way you play. While the game may look like Grand Theft Auto at first glance, that is just scratching the surface of all the things Watch Dogs does differently.

Hacking
In Watch Dogs, hacking is more than just a mini-game or a scripted event: it is a gameplay mechanic that is tied into every facet of the game. Need some money? Hack into an ATM to get yourself the funds you need. Cops chasing you? Hack into the security network and fire up a roadblock to stop the cops in their tracks.

The best example of the ways hacking will change how you play the game is an early demonstration of the game revealed months prior. In the demo, Aiden must gain access to an exclusive club; to do this, he uses a device that short circuits everyone's cell phones and, while they are trying to fix their phones, he sneaks into the club. Inside the club, he replicates a nearby woman's voice on his phone to draw his target to the club and, when the target is close, he then uses a device to turn a traffic signal from green to red, initiating a ten car pile-up to draw his target out of his car. None of this was scripted, so just imagine the amount of havoc you could cause with these instruments at your disposal.

Using a form of augmented reality, players will be to find optional objectives in the world by viewing information about the NPCs. Additionally, Aiden might hack into a security camera to find a crime in progress, at which point he can either play the hero or just walk away. The world in Watch Dogs is a living, breathing world in which Aiden can either be a voyeur and do nothing or use his special ability to make changes.

Who Will You Be?
Your actions will define you in Watch Dogs: commit crimes and become a felon, save civilians and become a hero. While this sort of morality system was touched on in InFamous, Watch Dogs takes it to the next level.

One example we've seen in gameplay is Aiden, as a wanted man, is attempting to buy items from a nearby store. In the middle of making his purchase, his face is emblazoned on the television as a wanted felon. At this point, the clerk slowly reaches underneath the counter and activates the security alarm, at which point Aiden must escape as quick as possible.

Again, none of this was scripted: your actions will influence the world around you in a way no other game has ever done. Had Aiden followed the path of justice, the clerk never would have sounded the alarm.

Combat
Eventually, you're going to have to fight, and while Watch Dogs doesn't do anything differently from other third-person action games, it is competent at the basics. You have a cover system, a decent aiming system, a wide variety of guns: combat is what you'd expect out of a game such as this.

In many situations of the game, Aiden can use stealth on his opponents to outright avoid gunplay, so there is something for everyone here. There are multiple ways to approach every fight and Watch Dogs lives up to its promise of providing true freedom in every aspect of the game.

Movement
Freedom extends even to movement: taking a cue from Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs features a parkour system. What this means is that fences and simple ledges won't be a problem for Aiden as he leaps and bounds over obstacles like they weren't even there.

PS4 Graphical Advantage We already knew that Ubisoft was planning to use the expanded power of the PlayStation 4 to make this version of Watch Dogs improved over the current versions, we just didn't know how. Until now, that is.

In a developer diary on the official PlayStation blog, senior producer Dominic Guay has promised a Chicago that sports more pedestrians and more cars, creating a more lifelike city thanks to the PlayStation 4's expanded RAM and other hardware. In addition, the game will sport high-resolution textures and more realistic special effects, such as smoke and fire.

While we suspected that the PS4 version of Watch Dogs was going to be the definitive version, it's good to see some confirmation about how Watch Dogs will usher in the next generation on the PS4.

Resolution

Ubisoft has confirmed that Watch Dogs on the PS4 will run at 30 frames-per-second at a 900p resolution. In comparison, the Xbox One version will have a resolution of 792p.

Multiplayer Multiplayer will play a part in Watch Dogs, though Ubisoft is still silent on the specifics. What we do know is that other players will be able to join your game and attempt to hack you via security cameras. How this ties into the main game or the extent of this mode is not yet known.

Ubisoft has now released a 9 minute trailer giving you all the details on how Watch Dogs multiplayer will function:

Watch Dogs 101 Trailer - Get a head start
"Check out the ultimate Watch Dogs preview and see how to hack the city to make it your weapon. Learn everything you need to know about the game that defines next gen."

PS4 Additional Gameplay Content
Ubisoft has confirmed that the exclusive 60 minutes of additional gameplay that the PS3 version of Watch Dogs is receiving will also come to the PlayStation 4. Details about what the content will be have now been released, along with a trailer:

The content will be four exclusive missions that total roughly an hour of game time, along with the following bonuses:

A "White Hat Hacker" Outfit

An additional battery slot for your hacking device

Additional knowledge about DedSec, an in-game hacker group

The content will be free for all PlayStation 4 owners.

A new PlayStation 4 advertisement has revealed that the additional gameplay content is only exclusive to the PlayStation 4 for six months. While this means that the content could eventually come to the Xbox One and PC, it's not a sure bet: if you want to guarantee a playthrough of this exclusive content, get the PlayStation 4 version.

Trophy List

The folks at PSNProfiles have uploaded the complete Watch Dogs trophy list. The majority of the list is single player trophies with only a small handful of multiplayer trophies.

No Demo
Creative director Jonathan Morin has revealed on Twitter that Watch Dogs will not be receiving a demo before launch.

Limited Edition
Like any big name release, Watch Dogs will include a PlayStation 4 Limited Edition retailing at $129.99. The contents of this Limited Edition include the following:

A copy of the game in a steel case

A copy of the soundtrack

An authentic wearable mask that is a replica of the one Aiden wears

A 9" statue of Aiden

An 80 page hardcover art book

You can preorder the limited edition at Amazon today!

Season Pass

Ubisoft has revealed that a Season Pass will be available for Watch Dogs and will retail at $19.99. This is what's included in the Season Pass:

New single player content with a new lead character, T-Bone

A new game mode, Digital Trip, where you hunt cyborgs

New weapons and outfits

Access to all DLC one week before everyone else

A 25% discount over buying the DLC individually

The Season Pass will be available at the game's launch on the PlayStation Store.

"Bad Blood," the first piece of content starring new character T-Bone, is now available on the PlayStation Store for Season Pass holders! The content includes new missions, outfits, and weapons. The trailer is below:

Preorder Content
Preordering the game at Amazon entitles you to one copy of the Signature Shot Pack, which includes:

An exclusive single player mission

A biometric assault rifle

The Black Viceroy's Outfit

The Signature Shot Pack is only available until the game releases so preorder today to guarantee a copy!

Bundle
Ubisoft has announced a Watch Dogs bundle for Europe, consisting of both the PlayStation 4 and a copy of the game.

No price has been announced and no other territories have been mentioned as getting this bundle. We'll keep you updated on future developments regarding this bundle!

Vs. Xbox One
Ubisoft has confirmed that the PlayStation 4 version of Watch Dogs will be slightly better than the Xbox One version. While both versions run at 30 frames-per-second, the PlayStation 4 version of the game will run at 1080p on the PlayStation 4 while the Xbox One version runs at 960p.

While the PC version of the game will sport the best graphics out of all systems the game is releasing on, the PlayStation 4 version will be the best looking home console version but only by a small amount.

Watch Dogs PS4 Release Date
Ubisoft has now revealed the official release date for Watch Dogs! The game will hit May 27th, 2014 worldwide! Watch Dogs was originally scheduled to be released at the PS4's launch. Was it worth the wait for you?